Toronto Masters: Hurkacz wins battle of big servers to make second round

Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 15 seed, reached the second round of the Toronto Masters by defeating Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-6 (2) at the Aviva Centre on Monday evening.

In a battle between two of the Tour’s biggest servers, it was Bublik’s whose served cracked, with the 26-year-old making 10 double faults in the space of 11 service games. While neither had outstanding serving days, Hurkacz was the more solid in rallies, striking 30 winners and only making six unforced errors.

Bublik: "I wish to never face you again" 🗣️@HubertHurkacz up and running in Toronto!#NBO23 pic.twitter.com/iXAizJKWge

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 7, 2023

Hurkacz, ranked No 17, will face the winner of the match between Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin and Serb Miomir Kecmanovic next.

Toronto Masters, other first-round matches (Aviva Centre, hard, USD 6,600,000):

• Matteo Berrettini beat Gregoire Barrere: 6-4, 6-3
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat J.J. Wolf (16): 6-0, 6-2
• Jiri Lehecka beat Brandon Nakashima: 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
• Lorenzo Musetti (16) beat Yoshihito Nishioka: 6-4, 6-1
• Francisco Cerundolo beat Alexis Galarneau (WC): 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
• Vasek Pospisil vs. Matteo Arnaldi
• Alex De Minaur vs. Cameron Norrie
• Gabriel Diallo vs. Daniel Evans
• Ugo Humbert vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Alexander Zverev vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Aslan Karatsev
• Lorenzo Sonego vs. Andy Murray
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Max Purcell
• Aleksandar Vukic vs. Borna Coric
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Sebastian Korda
• Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Marcos Giron
• Ben Shelton vs. Bernabe Zapata Miralles
• Milos Raonic vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Cristian Garin vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Tommy Paul vs. Diego Schwartzman
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Taro Daniel
• Gael Monfils vs. Christopher Eubanks
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis